Path 2

Path 2

Music-Hating Vandals Wreck Astoria Street Piano

July 2, 2010

Remember the street pianos? Have you played one yet? Well, it seems some people are not so in favor of the project: The Wall Street Journal reports that the upright piano stationed in Astoria’s Athens Square Park has been vandalized not once but twice.

“All the pieces were broken, the keys were strewn everywhere, I was just in shock and disbelief when I saw it,” says Bill Gati, a Queens musician who ventured out to the piano over the weekend, only to find it destroyed.

Sad! The piano has now been removed, but you can’t kill a music man’s spirit that easy — Gati had his sax with him and “invited musicians and kids playing in the park to join in on an impromptu jam session.” So there.

The Athens Square piano has been the only one vandalized (thank goodness, because that’s a pretty lame crime). The rest are still intact and ready to be played until July 5. Vandals take note: “Play Me I’m Yours” locations will be reconsidered for next year, so behave yourselves! And practice up — maybe someday, if you put your minds to it and stop being assholes, you’ll be able to do this: